new coupon policy at Asda??

cx01

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alared

My experience of ASDA is they don`t really have a policy they just make it up as they go along.
If you ask at customer services you will be told a variety of opinions from different people,not only day to day but hour to hour depending who`s on the counter or who happens to be standing in for who`s gone to the toilet at that particular moment.
Another favourite trick at the checkout when you offer coupons is for them to scratch their heads and say "I`m not sure if we can take these,or how many we can take,or whether we sell the product".
They then lean over to another clueless one on the next counter and ask them.
They of course give their interpretation of what the policy is.
Finally if you are persistent enough a supervisor is called over to give her opinion.

I well remember one day when I told the supervisor that she was saying something different to what their head office in Leeds had told me recently and the supervisor said that

---

HEAD OFFICE HAD GOT IT WRONG.

COPPERS459_2

Hope I can help on this matter,
I am an ex Asda Customer Service Manager, the company policy is that Asda will accept all vouchers produced as long as Asda sells the product and if it is an asda coupon the product stated must be purchased.
The coupon must be in date.
However this has been overturned and is now at the store discretion of how many you can use. My old store we stated 10%, and you will find this in most stores.
Once again it is up to the store how much they will take, please bear in mind, the blatent abuse of the system will result in the collapse of the system for others to benefit, so I think 10% is reasonable as this is all the collegues who work for asda get.

Caixta

I was in Asda last night and for the first time I was given a hard time about handing over coupons. The cashier called a supervisor and he told her not to accept the coupons. Now, my husband had just used £6 worth of identical coupons just a few checkouts away, and there had been no problems.

This supervisor scrutinized mine and then read each one out to me v e r y s l o w l y. He seemed to think I was crazy for handing over coupons for items I had not bought. The queue was held up for a long time and I really felt that this supervisor was trying to punish me in some way! Then he even scribbled on one of my coupons and I think that has made it useless. He made up some policy on the spot and I tried just once to explain very politely that it has not been a problem in the past. But I said, look, never mind, I'll just put them back in my purse and carry on paying. He persisted and would not give me them back until he had finished his long speech.

He wanted everyone to look at me.

Ironically, just after we arrived at the store last night, I saw a man being arrested and taken outside in handcuffs. The two police officers did this so discreetly that dozens of the people they walked past did not even look up and notice. I was impressed at the dignified way in which they treated him. I had only noticed because I was waiting nearby for my husband to come back from the loo and happened to be looking in that direction. They walked the man smoothly and gently out of the store. What a contrast with the attitude of the cashier and supervisor who were quite rude to me and made me feel like a shoplifter!

The experience has knocked me back a bit, as I'm normally quite confident about handing over coupons. I don't mind the odd rejection and always keep things light and friendly. But this has made me wonder how it could have been handled differently. The supervisor wouldn't listen to me at all.

I mentioned it at the Customer Service desk on my way out, and the lady there said that my coupons were fine and should have been accepted. Confused now!

randan

I know from past experience that this kind of treatment can be very disturbing and I really feel sorry for you.

The best thing you can do it try to put it behind you. Next time you go to the store choose a different operator (preferable the one your other half used this time) and hand over the coupons as usual.

You did nothing wrong and should not have been made to feel that you had. Get right back in there and get back to enjoying discounted shopping - you know it makes sense. Good luck.

robnye

next time........ say 'oh dont worry, i dont want the products now',... and leave them with a pile of shop goods to return to the shelves......

Caixta

Thanks guys. I felt like giving up, but now I feel encouraged again. I suppose it's all character-building!

It's good to know other people have been there too...

randan

The other thing you can say that really annoys them - 'its okay I will just use them at Tesco when I shop there next week' (assuming you have a local Tesco that is!!)

I have ASDA and Tesco close by and you can see them squirm at the mention on the other store - it almost makes up for the way they make you feel to see the look on their face.

kirst

i got this email response a few days ago......

Thank you for your message.

Dear Ms Anderson

Thank you for your e-mail.

We do accept vouchers in store. If the voucher that you are attempting to use is
specific for shampoo then I am afraid that it is only to be used for that certain
product. However if the voucher is from the manufacturers and does not state the
exact product it has to be used for then the voucher can be used to purchase
anything from the specific manufacturers range.

With regards to internet printed vouchers. These can be accepted but this is at
stores discretion as they are not direct from a manufacturer.

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Lee Collins
ASDA Home Shopping

----Your Original Comments Were----

Could you please tell me your policy for:

1. accepting money off vouchers when shopping online
2. accepting money off vouchers when shopping in store.

do the money off vouchers used have to be used against the actual
product - e.g. can i use a ?1 off shampoo when i dont by shampoo.

Also, do you accept internet printed vouchers?

Thanks
Kirsty

langsmith

randan wrote:

The other thing you can say that really annoys them - 'its okay I will just use them at Tesco when I shop there next week' (assuming you have a local Tesco that is!!)

I have ASDA and Tesco close by and you can see them squirm at the mention on the other store - it almost makes up for the way they make you feel to see the look on their face.

They may see a downturn in business as the one in Farnborough, Hampshire has. My sister in law works there & says that they are beginning to panick. The vouchers they send by e-mail keep on coming but I don't go there. Might as well post them here, so as to help others here. :beer:

Dormouse

Caixta wrote:

The experience has knocked me back a bit, as I'm normally quite confident about handing over coupons. I don't mind the odd rejection and always keep things light and friendly. But this has made me wonder how it could have been handled differently. The supervisor wouldn't listen to me at all.

That must have been horrible for you... I know you could just try and put that episode behind you, or alternatively you could write to the manager of that particular store and tell them what happened.

That's what I did once, after my hubby went to Asda alone and only had a couple of vouchers but some jobsworth refused them. DH is not at all confident with vouchers so just shrugged it off, but I wouldn't let it go, as I knew for a fact that our Asda have the 10% policy! I wrote to the manager saying that they should train their staff better so that everyone is aware of their voucher policy (I also pointed out that I'd been in contact with their head office who confirmed the policy to be 10%).

I got a nice reply saying thank you, we'll improve the staff's awareness of the policy, and please come back as we'll be happy to take your vouchers. Enclosed was a £5 gift card.

Even if you had been misinformed about the coupon policy (which you weren't, as you said even the CS lady said you were right!) the supervisor had no right to treat you like that and embarrass you in front of everyone. I think you have a good reason to complain to the manager -- just tell them what you told us!